Fans of E.L. James' steamy romance series Fifty Shades of Grey have been eagerly awaiting official word on casting for Focus Features and Universal's anticipated feature adaptation. Who will play the Anastasia Steele in the film? Judging by the tone of her recent Tweet on the subject, it won't be Emma Watson. Via Twitter, the Harry Potter star questioned people who actually thought she was going to do the movie...
That's a relief. Admittedly, I'm curious about the casting for this project and the adaptation in general, and I recognize that Watson is growing up and taking on more adult roles, but I'm in no way ready to see Hermione Granger in that context.
Watson seemed to inch up to the top of the potential-Ana list recently when her name was reportedly listed on internal documents obtained from a hacker attack on the Germany studio Constantin Film. At the time that rumor started making the rounds, Universal Pictures denied it, stating that "no one has been cast yet." And now comes Watson's Tweet, which not only dispels the rumors but indicates a not-in-this-lifetime sentiment toward the part.
It's been about a year since Universal and Focus Features nabbed the rights to the popular romance novel. Clearly, they're not in a huge rush to get the movie cast and into production, or if they are, things aren't working out that way. Buzz on the novel has died down some since the Fifty Shades craze last year, but it's likely that fans would be happy to wait for the film if it means a quality adaptation. That includes finding the right Ana, the virginal college grade ripe at the center of the story, and the right Christian, the wealthy, handsome masochistic businessman with emotional issues, who takes a liking to her.
So, it doesn't look like Watson will be playing Ana, nor will she be playing Cinderella in Disney's adaptation, but she is on board to play the lead in Guillermo del Toro's take on Beauty and the Beast, though it sounds like we'll be waiting a bit for that one.
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